MarginaliaAnno. 1556. Iuly.and be glad, knowyng that the Lorde him selfe is their keper, who will not suffer one heare of their heades to perishe without his almightie good will and pleasure, neither will suffer them to bee further tempted then hee will geue them strength to beare: but will in the middest of their temptation make away for them to escape out: So good and gracious a God is he to all his chosen children. And though sometimes he doe let his elect stumble and fall, yet (no doubt) he wil raise them vp againe to the further encrease of their comfort and to the settyng forth of his glory & prayse. Which thing (my deare and faithfull louing sister) I trust shalbe well verified on you. For I doe heare say that by the manifold allurementes, inticementes, procurementes, yea and enforcementes that you deare harte haue had, your foote hath chaūced to slip forth of the way, to the great discomfort of your soule & the heauines of your hart: but my good sister, be of good cheare, for the Lord will not so leaue you, but he wil raise you vp againe & make you stronger then euer you were: so that your fall shall turne to his glorie and your profite. For if you had not by this proued the experiēce of your owne strength, or rather your owne weakenes, you would haue stand to much in your owne conceite, or perchaunce haue gloried in your self, and haue despised and condemned other weake persons that haue committed the like offence. Therefore nowe you may see what the best of vs all can do, if God leaue vs to our selues. Which thing ought to moue you to be diligent to call earnestly vpon God for his grace and the strength of his holy spirite (without the which wee are not able to stand one houre) and to be most thankefull for the same when you haue it, and then to be more circumspect in time to come.

Therefore deare sister, seying that you haue done otherwise then the word of God and your owne conscience would allow, yet deare hart, do you not thinke that God therefore will cast you cleane away, but know that he hath mercy enough in store for all them that truly repent and beleue in him, although the sinnes of them were as many in number as the sandes in the Sea, and as great as the sinnes of the whole worlde. It is a greater sinne to mistrust the mercy and promises of God, then to commit the greatest offence in the world. MarginaliaTo trust to Gods promise.Therefore (good sister) beware in any wise, that you doe not once mistrust the promises of Gods mercy towardes you: but knowe for a very suretie that all your sinnes be vtterly forgeuen you for Christes sake, be they neuer so many, so greuous, or so great.

But now (deare hart) take heede and beware that you doe not cloke that sinne and increase the same dayly, in communicating with the wicked in their Idolatrie, and deuilish doinges at their denne of theeues. Do not (I say) deare sister, come at any of their Antichristian seruice, MarginaliaCustome of sinne a perillous matter.lest by litle and litle you vtterly lose a good conscience, and at length esteme it for none offence: as (alas) a great nomber doth at this day, to the great perill of their soules. The Lorde bee mercifull vnto them & geue thē grace to repent in time and turne to the Lorde, and then they shalbe sure to finde mercy at the Lordes hand, as doubtles you haue done, praised be his name therfore.

Ah my deare sister, you maie nowe see the wordes of Christ verified vpon your selfe: that a mans greatest foes shall be they of his owne houshold: for your houseband hath gotten you to do that,MarginaliaA. G. intised by her husband to go to the Masse. which all the tyrantes in the world could neuer haue made you to doe. Doubtles he may be sorie for it. God geue him grace to repent, or els, without doubt, it will be layd to his charge one day whē he would not by his will heare it for all the goods in the world. Well, I thinke my brother Tymmes will write him a letter shortly that shall touch his conscience, if he haue any conscience at all.

But nowe agayne to you deare sister. The thing that is done can not be vndone, and you are not the first that hath offended, neither are you so good and so holy, as hath at a time slipt forth of the way. Therefore I would not haue you to be so much discomforted as I heare say you be, as though God were not as hable to forgeue you your offence, as he was to forgeue his deare Saintes that offended him in times past: MarginaliaThe raysing vp of a troubled conscience after his fall.or as though God were not as mercifull now, as euer he was. Where as in very dede, There is with the Lord (as the Prophet saith) mercy and plentifull redemption: and his mercy farre surmounteth all his workes: and hee neuer faileth any that put their whole trust and confidēce in him, how great an offender or how wicked a trespasser so euer he be: No, MarginaliaGod turneth all thinges to þ^e best, to them hat be his.he maketh their falles and backeslydinges many times to turne to

their profite and commoditie, and to the setting forth of his glory: As doubtles deare sister, yours shall doe, if you put your whole faith, hope, and trust only in his infinite and eternall sweete mercies.

MarginaliaSathan whē he can not bryng a man to his seruice, he presseth him with distrust of gods mercie.Oh what a suttel, craftie, lying serpent is that Sathan our old enemie, that when he seeth that he can not make vs to cōtinue in our wickednes to do him seruice, would then bring vs into a doubting and mistrustyng of the mercy of God: which is the greatest offence that can be: yea infidelity is the roote & originall of all other sinnes. Therefore (my swete sister) geue no place to that cruell aduersarie of mankinde, who hath beene a lyer and a murtherer from the beginnyng, but stedfastly beleue the Lord, who hath sent you word by me his most vnworthy seruant, that all your sinnes be pardoned, forgeuen, and cleane released for Iesus Christes sake our only Lord and Sauiour. To whom with the father, and the holy Ghost, be all honour, glorie, praise, thankes, power, rule, and dominion for euer and for euer, Amen. Farewell my deare sister, and bee of good chere. Beleue in the Lord and you shal liue for euer. The Lord increase your faith, Amen, Amen.

Your poore brother and dayly faithfull
Oratour Iohn Careles, prisoner of the
Lord. Pray for me.

¶ An other letter of Iohn Careles to A. B.  

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Augustine Bernher. Careless, as Foxe mentions in a marginal note, encouraged Augustine Bernher to marry Elizabeth despite what Foxe describes as 'certain lets' [i.e., obstacles] against the marriage. (One of Careless's letters to Bernher, urging him to press forward with his suit of Elizabeth, is ECL 260, fos. 242r-243r. This letter makes it clear that these obstacles included the oppositionof Elizabeth's family to the match).

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a faithfull Minister of the Lord, conteining certaine fruitfull preceptes of Matrimony.  

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This letter was first printed in 1570 and is not in Letters of the Martyrs.

MarginaliaA Letter of Iohn Careles to A. B. a faithfull seruant of Christ.I Besech the same euerlasting Lord (my deare & faithfull brother) that blessed young Tobias with his wife Sara, and brought them together in due time with reuerence and feare, preserue and blesse you both, and your sede after you, that they may encrease the number of the faithfull by thousandes and thousandes. And as the Lord of his great mercie and fatherly prouidēce hath bene alwayes careful for you, & now hath for your comfort accomplished his good worke in couplyng you with a faithfull mate: so see that you be thankefull for his prouidence towardes you, that it may euery way in you be an encrease of loue and godlynes, yea of Christian ioy & gladnes in these sorrowfull dayes: but yet so, that you mourne with the true mourners of Syon, and be sory (yet in measure) for the hurt of the same. Pray also in faith for her prosperitie, that the Lord may build vp the walles of Hierusalem agayne.

MarginaliaPsal. 146.Oh that the Lord would turne Syons captiuitie as the riuer, into the South: Then should our hartes be made glad and our mouthes filled with laughter. Then would the heathen hypocrites say: the Lord hath done much for them. Oh, the Lord hath done great thinges for vs already: whereof let vs hartely reioyce, and prayse his name therfore. For though we now sowe with teares, yet shall we be sure to reape with gladnes: and as wee nowe goe forth weepyng, bearyng forth good seede, so shall wee come again with ioy, and bring our sheaues ful of corne. MarginaliaThe death of the Martyrs is the life of the Gospell.Yea the death of the Martyrs (which is most precious in his sight) shalbe the life of the Gospell, spite of the Papistes hartes.

Pray for me (deare hart) that I may be counted worthy to sowe some seede amongest the sweete Saintes of the Lord, that I may reape the same againe without ceasing, at the haruest. MarginaliaA sowyng time in Christes Church.It is now sowyng time of the yeare, men say in the countrey, and I thinke that I shall make an end of sowyng before all march be past: for I heare say that I shall proue how my plough will enter into the stonie ground of the hard harted Papistes, within these foure dayes. I hope to hold fast, and not to looke backe, neither for feare nor flattery, vntill I haue made an ende of sowyng, and then wil I set me downe and rest me, and aske them all no leaue, and looke for the liuely frute and encrease therof with ioy and gladnes.

My deare brother, the time approcheth nere (I prayse God therefore) that I must put of this sinfull tabernacle and go home to my heauenly father, where diuers of my deare brethren are already, looking and wishing for me. I besech you therefore that you will helpe me foreward with your faithfull prayers, as I know you doe, for I doe feele the comfort and commoditie therof.

That you haue obserued my simple counsell,MarginaliaThis counsell was þ^t he should marry, notwithstandyng certeine lettes wherby Sathā sought to hinder hys mariage.I am right glad, and I trust in the Lord God, you shall fynde comfort in the same. And that you may so doe in deede, I haue bene so bold to write these few wordes vnto you, because I shall see you no more in this corruptible life: therefore marke them well. First and aboue all thynges,